Bryan Konietzko attended the Rhode Island School of Design and graduated in 1998 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in illustration. After moving to Los Angeles, Konietzko worked as a character designer at Film Roman for FOX’s prime-time series, Family Guy. He moved on to assistant direct for two more Film Roman shows, Mission Hill and King of the Hill, working beside animation director, Michael DiMartino. Soon after, Konietzko became a storyboard artist and later the art director for the Nickelodeon animated series Invader Zim. Konietzko lives in Los Angeles, California.

In 2001, Konietzko partnered with DiMartino to create a show for Nickelodeon, and began development for Avatar: The Last Airbender. The show eventually premiered on Nick in February of 2005, and reached three seasons before concluding at Konietzko's and DiMartino's request. Konietzko has stated in several instances that he and DiMartino "are not done with the Avatar world." Debates have circulated as to what this means for the future of the franchise on television. While this is still unclear, it has been widely reported that the creators plan to help M. Night Shyamalan develop the live-action movies the series is being turned into.